Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Water districts are no friend of cyclists around these parts, except in Marin County. The Marin Municipal Water District takes an enlightened approach to managing its 18,000 acres.

No doubt they realize that trying to keep people out is a lost cause when Marin County residents’ backyards border district land, so they make the best of it.

There’s plenty of bike riding. Not to be missed — Pine Mountain Road and San Geronimo Ridge Road. Of course, there’s also the railroad grade up Mt. Tamalpais. We’re talking Shay locomotives, so the grade can be 8 percent. It’s no wonder the mountain bike got its start here.

San Jose, San Francisco disappoint
The same cannot be said for the San Jose Water or San Francisco water departments. They must own stock in a razor-wire company.

After decades of public pressure, San Francisco finally allows people onto the peninsula watershed overlooking Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, but it’s docent led. I find this description particularly offensive describing Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail. “Because of environmental restrictions within our fragile ecosystem, groups must be accompanied by a volunteer trail leader.”

Marin County’s watershed isn’t fragile?

San Jose Water Department, in business since 1866 and publicly owned (listed on the NYSE), is even worse. They took over the South Pacific Coast right of way at Aldercroft Heights in 1947 right under the noses of Santa Clara County officials.

The right-of-way runs through a narrow canyon cut by Los Gatos Creek between Aldercroft Heights and Wrights Station Road. It’s one of the more spectacular roads you could ever hope to visit, but today it’s off limits with high fences and frequent guard patrols. Paranoia runs deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Mindego Hill off Alpine Road. Will it ever be open? How about Big Dipper Ranch nearby? I’ve seen plenty of cow pies in the East Bay Parks. They don’t have a problem with public access and open range.

If you think the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) has a hidden agenda for its well-managed Vision Plan, you’re entitled to that opinion. I don’t believe that’s true because MROSD strictly adheres to the Brown Act, making available its finances and meeting notes on its website.

Few people attend MROSD meetings, so unless you go to the effort and look at the website, you’re missing out.

Ballot measure
After looking around I noticed that the District is moving closer to a funding measure on the local ballot, which was reported by the San Jose Mercury News (7/14/2011).

At the Sept. 25, 2013, meeting they contracted with George Gary Manross, Ph.D., who owns Strategy Research Institute (SRI), to monitor their vision plan. Manross was contracted by Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) to conduct a benchmark study to assess likely voter opinion regarding the District’s Vision Plan and related themes, as well as the feasibility of placing a successful funding measure on the local ballot in the near future.

Should the District move forward with a ballot measure, it would retain SRI’s services for writing the ballot language, as well as handling the data management and statistical analysis of District public surveys. Manross is an influential figure in California politics, according to Wikipedia. He predicted Chuck Reed would win the race for mayor of San Jose against Cindy Chavez (I could have predicted that one).

Property tax increase?
The bulk of the District’s revenue — 73 percent or about $30 million — comes from property taxes, with the rest from “transfers in” and “other.”

We all want open space, no denying that. How much the public is willing to pay for it when it’s off limits to humans is another matter.

POST received about $13 million in 2102, $16 million when you add interest and other commitments, which isn’t bad for a non-profit that keeps a low profile.

Now if only we could enjoy the land instead of just looking at it on a map.

I’d like to see a show of hands: How many have received a traffic ticket? Quite a few. How many contested the ticket in court? Not so many hands this time.

Entering a closed area of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) may get you a traffic ticket. The fine is $50, but by the time all the public agencies add their fees, it comes to $281. Ironically, the MROSD receives little, if any, of the fine (according to a ranger), which goes into the county general fund, to pay for a new courthouse, or whatever other use the county sees fit.

Our date with destiny took place on Oct. 28, 2012. On a beautiful warm fall day we four approached Loma Prieta Road from the southwest, taking the traditional route pioneered by Jobst Brandt in the late-1950s.

I noticed for the first time the new MROSD signs. We stopped to take photos at the base of Loma Prieta summit where we saw some youths tearing up the hillside in their 4-wheel drive truck. Later we saw an SUV with off-road motorbikes parked on the road.

At Mt. Umunhum Road we turned right to head down when we encountered about a dozen hikers being ticketed by several MROSD rangers and a county sheriff. One hiker, wanted on a parole violation, was handcuffed. So we joined the fun and got our tickets.

The hikers had unwittingly hiked up to the closed military base and were seen on camera. I’m told it’s a private camera (probably McQueen family, based on this account and image from the other approach to Thayer) and not MROSD’s. I don’t know if they entered the base, but if they did it was a misdemeanor, which is a more serious offense than a traffic ticket.

We stood around and had a friendly talk with the MROSD rangers while Ranger Mike Perez wrote out the tickets. I was the only one without ID so he had to take my word that the information I provided was accurate. Mike became MROSD peace officer number 25 in 2006 and has a masters degree in U.S. colonial history. I figured him for ex-military based on his demeanor.

Once we had our tickets, we headed down Mt. Umunhum Road and home. I would prefer taking Loma Prieta the entire way, but it runs past the base, so Mt. Umunhum Road is the only other option.

Court appearance
I had never been to court, so I figured I should go through the motions, especially since the courthouse was only two miles from where I live and I’m paying for the privilege with my taxes.

I won’t go into all the legal options, of which there are many, including filing a plea online. Back in the early 1980s you might have been able to write a letter and have a ticket dismissed (as I have done), but these days with so many people in the system, you’re just a number. Get in line.

I showed up at court and sat right next to Officer Perez as we waited for the trial, but because he was wearing a suit and so was I, we didn’t recognize one another! Otherwise I would have introduced myself and we could have had a friendly conversation.

While waiting in the court room I observed the routine. Judge Stephen Yep has a disarming way about him that puts people at ease. He quickly dismissed a couple of cases because the accusing officer did not show. A fine is dismissed when that happens.

My case came up and I stood in front of the judge at a podium, Officer Perez to my right. Perez started by describing what happened. Judge Yep asked me if what he said was accurate and I said yes.

I then told my side of the story, which was to argue that the road was public. The judge asked me a couple times if I had seen the MROSD signs, perhaps offering me an “out,” but I was not there to avoid the fine. The judge did show some interest when I described Jobst Brandt’s early day rides. He asked who he was, so I gave a little history. However, he wasn’t interested in seeing photos I brought.

The judge then said that while he respected my right to exercise my constitutional rights, I was guilty. I had already paid the fine, so there was nothing more to do.

One other rider went to court a month later and had the same judge. Brian’s fine was reduced to $150 and the judge twice told him that he could appeal. He said that a traffic court couldn’t rule on his claim that the roads were public and/or county. He also asked the ranger if he thought that bikes were damaging the road, a question that Brian interpreted as the judge being puzzled as to why the roads have been closed for so long.

When I think about government, how it operates and what people expect from it, it raises a lot of philosophical issues about humankind and how we interact. More on that later…

Back in 1880 the Aptos Lumber Company set up the Loma Prieta sawmill to log present-day Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. It wasn’t long before residents of Santa Clara Valley started looking for a direct route to the mill.

Some enterprising citizens built a road starting in Los Gatos at least as early as 1915 according to a USGS map, but it may have been a trail before that. It climbed the beautiful Los Gatos Creek Canyon and headed steeply up present-day Soda Springs Road. From there it followed a series of ridges over to today’s Highland Way and then descended to Aptos on San Jose-Soquel Road or on what’s now Aptos Creek Fire Road.

Over the decades the first- and second-generation of mountain residents died off, and their children had no interest in scratching out a living in the remote mountains subject to fires and assorted other hazards. They sold the land and often subdivided.

In the 1950s a different sort of people moved into the mountains, loners, nature lovers, commuters looking to save a buck. By the 1970s the Sierra Azul area had many homes built without permits. Illegal agriculture became a cash crop in the Sierra Azul.

The Federal government moved in as well, building a radar tower atop Mt. Umunhum in 1957. Land was “purchased” from property owner Loren McQueen, laying the foundation for a feud between McQueen and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) that went on for decades. McQueen owned the mountain tops of Umunhum and Thayer.

A year later in 1958, Jobst Brandt,22, an adventurous cyclist from Palo Alto, rode his bike on a grand loop of about 80 miles, taking Alpine Road to Page Mill Road, south on Skyline Boulevard, Summit Road, up Mt. Bache Road, Loma Prieta Road and down the newly paved Mt. Umunhum Road. He also drove the route in his car. It would be the first of many annual rides following the same route. By the early 1970s, dozens of cyclist tagged along with Jobst to enjoy the wild and scenic Sierra Azul on Loma Prieta Road.

Most riders raced. Jobst and friends rode their racing bikes with glue-on sew-up tires throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, exploring dirt roads and trails before the MROSD had been formed and well before the mountain bike.

When MROSD wound up buying the base in 1983, McQueen must have felt it was a shady deal. He obstructed the open space district at every turn for the rest of his life, filing a lawsuit that went on for years, documented by a government website, and closing Mt. Umunhum Road.

While the district was battling McQueen, a tragic yet fortuitous event occurred in 1985 with the Lexington Fire that consumed 42 homes, 14,000 acres and displaced hundreds who would never return.

MROSD, already on a buying spree in the Sierra Azul, stepped in an bought up many properties from landowners eager to sell.

Starting in the 1980s, the few remaining residents who encountered Jobst on Loma Prieta Road took out their frustrations on him, claiming the road was private, but Jobst knew better. Santa Clara County and California fire department graders maintained the road as a fire break. While they never claimed the road, they didn’t have to. It had been in public use for nearly a century. More to come…

On Monday night some 65 of us spent three hours participating in a democratic process orchestrated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD). We expressed our opinion, but will they listen?

Out of the district’s five priorities — healthy nature, enriched experience, viable working lands, outdoor recreation and healthy living (public access), natural cultural and scenic landscapes — increased access topped the list. I’m not surprised, not when only 58 percent of MROSD land is open to the public.

This was the second of five public meetings hosted by the district. District Manager Steve Abbors closed by saying the district is on a mission to redefine itself and our input will be key to future management decisions. He made this point, no doubt, because the score on how much we trust the district to listen to our input left a lot to be desired. It was way less than the charitable 8 I gave it.

How much of this is public distrust of government in general or a problem with MROSD is difficult to say. It’s probably a combination. The district will never satisfy everyone in its effort to preserve open space, that’s for sure.

I attended this session because it addressed the Sierra Azul area, the district’s largest preserve located in the South Bay, including Mt. Umunhum and Loma Prieta peaks.

Ironically, about half of the attendees raised their hands when asked if they were from San Jose, which is not in the MROSD’s purview. The district boundary ends in Sunnyvale. San Jose residents enjoy the preserves but pay no parcel tax for the benefit. The cash-strapped district may one day charge for access to some preserves, but it would be impractical to restrict use to district residents. Palo Alto does that with its Foothills Park.

Electronic voting gave instant feedback at the MROSD meeting.

Sierra Azul

While I was there for Sierra Azul, the voting exercise included South Bay Foothills — Bear Creek Redwoods, El Sereno Saratoga-to-Sea, Fremont Older, Picchetti Ranch. The questions focused on preferred uses in each preserve (or potential preserve), such as dogs on leashes, preserving historic buildings, family nature opportunities, etc.

Sierra Azul offers the most cycling opportunities for riders, especially those who enjoy remote areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I’ll go into this more in my next post.

The district asked us to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 most desirable): Loma Prieta public access, Mt. Umunhum public access and interpretation, Rancho de Guadalupe family recreation, Fire management, Kennedy-Limekiln area, Cathedral Oaks access.

I would be willing to wager most people voting have no clue about Loma Prieta Road, but nevertheless they want public access and that’s what matters.

Thanks to electronics, the district and those voting saw the results in real time. This is Silicon Valley after all. It comes at a price. The district budgeted $851,000 (Vision Plan/Strategic Plan) for outreach efforts.

At the end of March 2013, the District will have bonded indebtedness equal to approximately 55% of its statutory debt limit. Projected future cash flows would allow issuance of no more than $20 million of additional debt…

Operating Expenses are budgeted at $17.2 million, or 57% of projected tax revenue.

The budget assumes acquiring $7.25 million of land in fiscal 2014. These acquisitions would generate an estimated $1.50 million land donations, leaving cash expenditures of $5.75 million for Land Acquisition.

So there you have it. I enjoyed the opportunity to express my support for expanding access to Sierra Azul preserve, but I’m skeptical that will ever come to pass. More on that next.

By now you’ve heard of Kickstarter and how it’s helping individuals launch businesses with a grassroots appeal.

It’s a perfect fit for bicycle products because the bike industry has always been about the little guy. Sure, we have large bike factories around the world, but they pale in comparison to the car or other more complex products.

Bikes are simple machines, as much as we try our hardest to make them complicated and futuristic. On Kickstarter, for example, there’s a lighting system you can have, turn signals, etc., along with bike computer functions, built into the handlebar. While that’s cool, I’ll pass.

Cedric Bosch, who built this video black box after a friend was hurt in a hit-and-run accident, has a passion for technology. The recently graduated mechanical engineer knows his way around a machine shop as well as electronics.

While you can buy a Go-Pro or other video recorder, Cedric’s will cost you less and it’s exclusively built for recording and capturing video footage in the event of an accident. An accelerometer activates and stops recording when there’s a sudden event.

The small box mounts on your helmet, handlebar, seatpost, pretty much anywhere you want it. It records for up to a month, assuming a daily one-hour commute, before needing a charge.

You can download up to 2.5 hours of video via a USB cable.

I have no doubt Cedric’s camera will work as advertised, so I made a commitment to purchase one. Once a project meets its funding goal, your credit card is charged. Only in a few instances has a project failed to produce the goods. Whether or not you’ll like what you buy is a different matter. That’s the risk you take.

Bikes vs. Cars offers a compelling look at what cyclists are up against.

I’m not a big fan of bike documentaries because I’ve seen it all. However, Swedish director and journalist Fredrik Gertten offers something compelling in his movie teaser.

It’s a first-class effort and one that compelled me to make a donation in hopes he’ll raise enough money to make a full-length documentary.

The video footage of Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford bashing bicycles had a galvanizing effect when I watched it. His message needs to be seen and heard. It exposes the unvarnished truth about how much some people hate bikes. For that reason alone, I hope Gertten’s movie is made and seen around the world.

Our San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge is closed from the Federal shutdown.

I thought I had nothing to worry about from the government shutdown when it comes to bike rides. Wrong. It turns out the bay is one giant Federal national wildlife refuge.

I knew that, but it’s easy to forget with so many government agencies in play around here.

I arrived in Alviso ready to ride around the outer levee only to see the closure sign. The same goes for the trail around Moffett Field. Where possible, the Feds closed gates to keep people out and that seems to be the only thing that’s keeping people from enjoying a walk, jog, or bike ride on the levees even with the signs.

Now that I know what’s up, I’ll stay away until the trails re-open. Let’s hope that’s soon. Last I heard governments exist to serve the needs of the people.

Since we’re all caught up in the government shutdown, and my cycling enjoyment took a hit, I’ll weigh in with my opinion.

Tea Party Republicans, the train has left the station on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was voted into law and confirmed as constitutionally legal by the Supreme Court.

We need auto insurance to drive. We should have mandatory health insurance. Let’s give it a try and see how it works out. I had a catastrophic accident when I was 28, but I had Blue Shield health insurance. The bill came to $40,000 in 1981 (it would be about $500,000 now). I paid almost zero — just the ambulance ride for $250. Today the same accident under the new insurance plan would wind up costing someone $6,500. That’s not as good as zero, but those days are behind us.

Republicans should move on to helping balance the budget. You’ve got a little more sympathy from me here. We can start by making personal economics a mandatory class in high school. Let’s teach kids that living within one’s means is the right thing to do. An economy built on credit cards and IOUs is doomed to collapse. Too many people live like there’s no tomorrow. Our government spends too much. Do we need 10 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers?

Finally, Social Security needs fixing. Many proposals have already been made by bi-partisan committees, all of them ignored. I’d start with this: You only get back what you put in, with interest of course.

I didn’t know this until today: According to California’s vehicle code, bicycles are not vehicles, at least when it comes to certain sections of the code.

That caused me to make a mistake in a previous blog when I said flashing lights are not technically legal on bicycles. I went back and fixed that comment, but it’s important to call it out here since it has major implications.

Here’s what VC Section 670 says: A “vehicle” is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

Flashing lights are only allowed on emergency vehicles, but since a bike is not a vehicle, they’re OK to use.

My only objection to flashing lights is front lights that emit a blinding white flash. You want to be seen, not be a visual distraction that blinds drivers.

So what is it about the bell that we find so alluring? I knew just where to go – the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics on Arastradero Road.

After a few phone calls I found a world-renowned authority who would talk to me. He’s Dr. Gotthis Bellrung, a Finnish acoustics researcher who has spent his life studying bells and the sounds they make.

Q. What is it about the sound a bell makes that people find so compelling?A. It’s primordial, no doubt. We are bathed in sound from birth. Sound is analog, carried on waves of energy much like waves in the sea. Over the eons humans have evolved to appreciate sound waves with pleasing acoustic qualities, and there is nothing more sonorous than the sound of a ringing bell.

Bell sounds are predominantly associated with happy occasions or situations – church bells, jingle bells, door bells, even cow bells. Is it any wonder Blue Oyster Cult needed more cowbell in their famous song “Don’t Fear the Reaper?”

Q. Dr. Bellrung, a bicycle bell has a unique sound about it. Why is that? A. You would have to ask John Richard Dedicoat, inventor of the bicycle bell in 1877. He had a knack for designing with springs and a keen ear. His pencil-sharpening machine wasn’t half bad either.

Q. Can the bell sound be changed based on its contour?A. Sure. Bells have distinctive sounds based on their shape. We refer to bell science as campanology. It’s really quite complicated. Bell sounds can be altered by the kind of material, the shape of the bell, the size and shape of the clapper and the depth of the bowl.

There’s an in-depth article on the acoustics of bells you can read online.

If you’re in India you can take a course at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur on the bicycle bell.

Here’s the plan for the next stretch of the San Tomas Aquino Creek Spur Trail, according to the City of Santa Clara. It will extend from El Camino Real to Homestead Road along the San Tomas Expressway.

The County of Santa Clara will be in charge of this roadwork, as it will be widening the expressway from three to four lanes each direction. The trail continues on the west side of the expressway.

A sidewalk will be constructed on the east side of the expressway, which explains why trees here are signed for removal. Trees will be removed on both sides of the expressway for the widening.

Those trees have been a headache, dropping needles and pine cones and plugging drains during heavy rain. I’ve also seen them fall into the road.